Sketchfab is a large online community for publishing and viewing 3D materials. Think of it as YouTube for 3D. Explore the site to find over half a million uploads of animations, models, and images. Use the keyword search to find specific content or browse through the different categories. Embed or share images using links provided with each image. If you create your own 3D content, free membership allows you to upload using several different file types. Use their online editor to adjust and fine-tune your creations.

In the Classroom

Share some of the many 3D models such as a human heart, the White House, or monarch butterflies. Display these on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector. Share with students with advanced knowledge of gaming and 3D as a resource for sharing their own 3D models and viewing materials made by others. If your school has a computer club, share this site with its sponsor for use with students. Do you or someone on your campus have a 3D printer? Explore and find printables to download and print. If you don't have access to a 3D printer you may want to write a grant for one. See GetEd Funding, reviewed here, for grant writing.

Find five decades of the Metropolitan Museum of Art publications available for free download or online reading at this extensive public collection. Browse by keyword, date, title, or topic as you choose from over 450 available titles. Choose your publication, and then follow the links for downloading in PDF, reading online, or other options. Not all titles have all options available.

In the Classroom

Share this site with your school's art teacher. Explore artwork from different time periods or places as part of social studies lessons. Encourage students to explore this site on their own to learn more about the various components of art. Have students create an annotated image of different pieces of art including text boxes, related links, and videos using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here.

Channel One News: One Vote is sure to appeal to and educate young readers. They will meet candidates, and learn how the election process works through engaging videos, infographics, and interactive pages. Find a delegate tracker and a field guide to the candidates (both interactive), a Presidential Trail Calendar and Results, information about One Vote's mock election, and more. Scrolling towards the bottom of the landing page you will find 60-second wrap-ups for each week, two quizzes about the importance of voting and where you stand, and various articles.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Make sure your students know what the U.S. primaries are about and why voting is so important. Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to introduce One Vote to students. Set up a link on class computers, or at a learning center for students to take the two quizzes. They can learn about why each ballot counts and find a match to the candidate they lean towards. This will help them see where they stand on issues like taxes, immigration, and climate change. Each week show the 60-second wrap up and hold a discussion. Consider using a tool like TodaysMeet, reviewed here, so the quiet and shy students have a chance to participate in the discussion, too. View the information about mock elections to see if you would like to set one up for your class or school. Put a link to this site on your class webpage for students to use at home.

Read New York Times articles and original content in Spanish with this site. The information ranges from politics, global news, business, technology - even pop culture. Reading this version of the NY Times will be useful in any Spanish language classroom as well as for ESL/ELL students.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use this site as a resource for advanced Spanish language learners for current events projects or for ESL/ELL students to stay up to date on current events- assign students different weeks throughout the semester in which they are to be the class news reporter, keeping their peers up to date and informed. Have students research what's going on via this news site, and present a short presentation at the beginning of class every day during their week. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create their own news videos using a tool like Stupeflix, reviewed here, and share them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here.

Discover and watch publicly funded radio and television programs from America's past with the American Archive of Public Broadcasting. Built as a means to preserve public broadcast programs from the 1940's through the present, over 7000 programs are available for streaming with additions ongoing. In addition to streaming programs, this site also includes curated exhibits on topics of historical significance, such as Climate Change and Voices from the Southern Civil Rights Movement.

In the Classroom

Bookmark the American Archive of Public Broadcasting for use as primary source material for classroom lessons. Browse by topic or keywords to find videos to share on your interactive whiteboard or share a link on your class website for students to view at home. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about an important figure from America's recent past. Have students create timelines (with music, photos, videos, and more) using Capzles, reviewed here, to demonstrate what they learned from one of the radio programs, videos, or exhibits.

Collaborate with up to 50 participants from anywhere and at any time with Zoom's free online video conferencing options. Features include screen sharing, scheduled or instant meeting times, and private or group chat. Up to 40 minutes of meeting time is included with the free meeting plans. Sign up using your email or social network account to begin hosting a meeting. The step by step instructions make it easy to quickly begin video conferencing at your convenience.

In the Classroom

Use Zoom to set up virtual parent/teacher conferences with participants located anywhere in the world. This is especially useful when multiple teachers are involved or when parents may not reside in the same location. Share your screen as needed to provide information on assessments and student work. Connect whole classrooms across the country for book clubs. Collaborate with experts such as authors and scientists with classrooms of children. Create connected learning experiences with other students, especially those in older grades. Connect world language classes to classes in other countries. Teachers can hold "office hours" for homework help and asking questions. Create a collaborative space for homework help before or after school or on snow days. Students can meet whenever help is needed or teachers can create a session that can be accessed on any device easily by those who need it. Consider using a tool such as Remind, reviewed here, to alert parents and students when your sessions are open. Use Zoom for group work - no more excuses about not being able to meet for cooperative learning projects! Buildings can collaborate and share professional development with others in their own district and beyond!

The Mindset Kit is a large compilation of resources for parents and teachers for teaching and developing growth mindsets. Based on the book, Mindset, by Carol Dweek, these lessons and activities provide tools for developing positive mindsets, in turn, leading to increased academic performance. Choose the section for teachers to find seven lessons for educator teams, or take advantage of ten lessons for parents to learn about growth mindset and how to instill this in students. Other portions contain ideas for specific content areas and mentors.

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the many lessons and ideas on this site in your classroom and when working with parents. These tools are especially useful for times when a student (or parent) claims that they were never good in a particular subject. Share ideas with your peers as part of your ongoing professional development, discuss ideas from this site and how they can be incorporated as part of a school-wide action. Take advantage of the many ideas featured in the Popular Practices section to learn how to use ideas in any classroom.

Microsoft's OneNote, a downloadable app, keeps all notes, emails, drawings, photographs, and more organized into folders on a page in different sections of a "notebook." Drag copies of files or documents from your computer into OneNote. Share and collaborate with others. Access your OneNote account by signing in to any computer or device.

In the Classroom

Use OneNote for all notes, ideas, and photographs in all aspects of your busy life. Keep your file system with you all of the time! Instruct students in the use of OneNote for notetaking needs. Share outlines and study guides with students. All members can collaborate and add thoughts. Offer as a way to improve organizational skills.

Create standards-based lessons and rubrics in minutes with ThemeSpark. Incorporate your ready-made materials or use global resources available on the site. The lesson builder includes the ability to add a hook, information to learn, practice, and application activity. When finished, download the lesson in an easy to use format. Be sure to watch the QuickStart Lesson Builder video and read through the FAQ section on the site for full information about creating lessons and using ThemeSpark. If your district blocks YouTube, the video may not be viewable. You could always view the video at home and bring it to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the video from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Use ThemeSpark for all of your lesson planning. Copy and paste current lesson plans to Theme Spark to match to standards. Collaborate with peers to create and develop standards-based lessons for your entire curriculum. This is perfect for when you need to have a sub, and for those teachers who must have a week of lesson plans on their desk for an administrator.

PenPal Schools connects learners from around the world with three to six-week courses in cross-cultural learning and understanding. After sign up, PenPal Schools matches classes based on class size and age range. Choose courses from four categories based on global issues or American issues. Each week, students log in to complete an assignment that typically involves viewing a video and reading a news article before answering a set of questions. Assignments are aligned with the Common Core Standards. PenPal Schools will work on any device with a modern web browser and an Internet connection.

In the Classroom

Create an account and participate in different courses as part of your studies of current events. Enrich course content by having students create an annotated image based on discussion questions including text boxes, related links, and even video. Use Thinglink, reviewed here, for this activity. Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts demonstrating their understanding of one of the concepts. Use a tool such as podOmatic, reviewed here.

Learn how two ordinary bicycle mechanics changed the world with this in-depth look at the life of Orville & Wilbur Wright. Follow the timeline beginning in 1630 to learn about the first American Wright, Samuel, as he arrived in Massachusetts with the Puritans. Continue learning about the Wright family's settlement in Ohio and their work with bicycles leading on up to their famous flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903. Be sure to check out the interactive experiments, classroom activities, and lesson plans linked near the bottom of the page.

In the Classroom

What a perfect addition to a lesson about the Wright brothers or a science unit about aviation (physics and more)! Have students work in cooperative learning groups and research a specific topic found at this site. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about one of the Wright brothers or as a spectator viewing one of the first flying machines. Be sure to take advantage of the free experiments and activities available on the site.

Create a personalized sign using the many templates offered on the Sign Generator. Options include personalized cakes, cartoon characters, movie marquees, and much more. Click the thumbnail of the design you want, add your text into the provided lines, and click the link to finish. Your personalized sign appears on a popup image ready to save onto your computer.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Create signs to include with multimedia projects. Customize a sign for use on your interactive whiteboard with directions for seat work or to introduce students presenting projects to the class. Have students use the images to give short story summaries using only four to six words. Create a set of class rules using one of the templates, and then print and post them on a bulletin board.

The Big Ideas Series, offer by ClassDojo, provides a five part video series encouraging students to explore different ways to discover a growth mindset. Each topic takes a look at a secret of the brain and how to use this science to improve learning. Ideas within videos discuss concepts such as the magic of mistakes and taking tasks a little at a time. Each short video includes a discussion guide to download for classroom use and a page with take-home questions for parent use. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Share videos with a projector or on an interactive whiteboard with students. Introduce a video each week and explore the discussion questions together. These videos could be very useful when preparing and motivating students for upcoming standardized testing or at the beginning of a school year to set a tone that everyone can learn. Include a link to videos on your class web page for parents to discuss at home with their student, and be sure to send home the take-home questions with topics to talk about.

Zeetings is a presentation tool that allows your participants to participate! Have up to 100 participants per Zeeting. The basic account includes some terrific features including unlimited polls, videos, embeds, web links, and unlimited uploads of PowerPoint and PDFs. Sign up is quick with no waiting for an email invite. Give your account a URL name (keep it simple) and begin constructing your presentation right away. Once you broadcast the presentation (by URL or code), all participants will be on the same page as you. When you turn the page, theirs will turn, too. Zeetings will work on any device with a modern web browser and an Internet connection.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

What a cool way to have all students at the same place in your lesson! Additionally, they can ask questions, answer a poll, or watch a video, all in real time. Any subject teacher can take advantage of this powerful tool! Introduce Zeetings to your class(es) with your projector to show them all the features, then have them learn and participate by logging into your presentation. Have students use Zeetings when presenting orally to the class. Have them incorporate web links and videos, with a quiz (survey) at the end. The survey will tell them who was paying attention or better yet if their presentation was clear and interesting.

Learn about the journeys of 16 explorers with this series of videos from PBS Learning. This series covers early explorers of the globe as well as modern explorers of space such as Alan Shepard and Neil Armstrong. Choose any video to watch, download, and view national educational standards covered.

In the Classroom

Videos are perfect for use on an interactive whiteboard, with a projector, or create a link on classroom computers for students to view on their own. Since the videos are only four to six minutes long, students could research the era of the explorer to see what else was happening in the world and create an infographic using Easel.ly, reviewed here, to share their findings. Have students create online movie posters to advertise the video they watched (individually, as partners, in small groups, or together as a class) using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here. Have students create maps using Animaps, reviewed here, sharing each explorer's route. Students can add text, images, and location stops!

eLearning Infographics offers an extensive selection of infographics for educational use. Choose from a variety of topics such as Playing to Learn and The Evolution of Technology in Schools. Each infographic displays a category. Click that link to view others with similar topics. Click on the infographic link to see the full image along with links for sharing on social networks and email, or copy and paste the embed code to embed directly onto your website.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the infographics on this site for both classroom use and professional development. Introduce a topic by sharing the Infographic and allowing time for students (or peers) to identify various items that they notice about the chart. Allow time to think-pair-share and list questions for further understanding. Choose a new infographic each week and use links for each image to embed on your website or share via social media. Make curriculum content more real with infographics that students can relate to. Consider creating Infographics of material students are learning in class for better understanding and connection with other topics and the world around them. You and students can create a simple infographic sharing information and/or findings using Easel.ly, reviewed here.

What makes someone a hero? Explore the four different types of heroes from various periods in history with this virtual exhibition. Scroll through time periods to view images of heroes through several Olympic periods. Learn about the influences of media and other outside sources on society's perceptions of heroic qualities.

In the Classroom

Include this site as part of any unit on the Olympic Games or heroes. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Piktochart, reviewed here. Challenge students to create an annotated image of someone they consider to be a hero, including text boxes, video, and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast two different heroes.

Stay up to date with current elections and learn about the electoral process with this all-inclusive site from PBS Learning. Take virtual field trips to the floor of Congress and Presidential Libraries to explore historical themes. Follow the election process with the interactive map to track candidates as they campaign across the country. Other content examines the election process and takes an inside look at the debates. Be sure to check out the Election Collection containing several activities such as Inside the Voting Booth and You're the Campaign Manager.

In the Classroom

Include Election Central as part of any election unit. Have students research candidate information and compare and contrast points of view. Use an online tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, or the Interactive Three Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here. Pose a controversial question about an election issue and have students answer as one of the candidates. Use a tool such as WeJIT, reviewed here, for that exercise. Or, challenge students to use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a candidate's journey through the election process. Or, using Fakebook, have two candidates debate an issue. Be sure to take advantage of the free lesson plans offered on this site correlated to National History Standards.

Discover Spiral's three free apps for classroom collaboration that will work on any device with a web browser. Sign up with your email and use Quickfire to ask unlimited questions and see answers in real-time. Engage your audience and knock down participation barriers with this free response system. Display answers anonymously. Use Discuss to present lessons and build resources and a knowledge base during your lessons. Have a discussion within Discuss, too. Team Up is for groups. Groups can do all research work within Team Up and create a presentation (a slideshow or a poster) as a final product. See their Support and FAQ page for setting up classes, the Teacher Dashboard & Admin, and more.

In the Classroom

Spiral is a terrific set of tools to use whether you are just starting to incorporate tech with students or if you are a long time user of tech with students. After creating an account, start out simply with Quickfire and gradually build to using Team Up. Reduce the learning curve for students by using all three tools for different purposes. Any subject teacher can use these apps for a multitude of lessons, class activities, and projects. Students must create an account (no email required) and select their school. Teachers must approve students to join a class. You can also download Spiral's spreadsheet, fill it out, and upload it. Use Quickfire and Discuss for back-channel discussions which encourages timid students to participate. Team Up is a perfect tool for research groups and literature circles.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional development session from March 2016, opens in Adobe Connect. The quest for classroom success begins with game-based learning. Learn tips, techniques, and tools to challenge and engage students. Game-based learning is a dynamic strategy that offers tremendous potential for meaningful and enriching experiences in the classroom. Enjoy sandbox time in the session to explore the vast collection of resources to suit a multitude of learners. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels. As a result of this session and through individual follow-up, participants will... (1) Learn about the difference between gamification and game-based learning; (2) Learn game-based learning techniques and tips; (3) Evaluate tools and resources for game-based learning; (4) Share ideas for using tools with other participants; and (5) Start a project using one of the given tools.

In the Classroom

Explore the many resources and ideas from this session and engage your students with game-based learning activities. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.